Funding Daily: Rolling robots

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Today, we got the inside scoop on Orbotix, which just raised $15.5 million for its robot toys. We’ve got details of this “toy story” and the rest of the day’s funding news in this Friday edition of Funding Daily.

Orbotix, the robotic toy maker behind Sphero and Ollie, is raising $15.5 million in its fourth full institutional funding round, Orbotix cofounder and chief technology officer Ian Bernstein told VentureBeat in an interview today. Shea Ventures led the round, with additional participation from the Foundry Group and Grishin Robotics. The company declined to share its current valuation.

Orbotix is a Boulder, Colo.-based TechStars alum, and it makes smartphone-control robot toys. Its first toy is Sphero, which it launched in 2011. Sphero is a rolling ball with an ARM processor and a companion smartphone app. It uses artificial intelligence and robot-controlled motors to roll around.

Mobeam grabs nearly $2M for its smartphone barcode tech

Mobeam, a company whose technology turns cellphone screens into scannable barcodes, has raised $1.92 million in funding, according a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The document states that the company is seeking a total of $3.3 million.

Mobeam announced last spring that its technology would in the Samsung Galaxy S4. This turns shoppers’ screens into barcodes that they can scan. This was significant for both smartphone users and retailers, as many stores have not updated their register and scanner tools. MoBeam technology could also play into the future of mobile wallets.

StreetShares takes $1.2M to help finance veteran-owned small businesses

Web-based lending platform StreetShares today announced a $1.2 million seed round that Accion Venture Lab led. The round also included participation from Washington, D.C.-area community bankers, military veteran investors, Harvard Business School angels, and Capital One alumni.

CEO Mark Rockefeller, a former Wall Street lawyer who fought in the Iraq war, founded the startup last year to help veteran-owned small businesses receive the financing they need. The platform will lend to businesses seeking less than $100,000 when it launches later this month.